


Time Out

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Play, Angst with a Happy Ending, Baby Tony, Carrying, Crying, Daddy Steve, Diapers, Disciplinary Spanking, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hugs, Infantilism, Light Spanking, Little Headspace, Mild Angst, Pacifiers, Spanking, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Stubborn Steve Rogers, Thank God For Rhodey, Time Out, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Tony Stark Has Trust Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, alternate universe - littles are known, before they can leave him first, but it's been fully discussed and approved, caregiver steve, he does not go away so easily, non sexual age play, non sexual infantilism, playpens, rhodey acts as a tony interpreter, so many hugs, thank you very much howard stark you piece of trash, thumb sucking, tony stark pushes people away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-04-05 17:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19045471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: Rhodes was quiet for a moment. “So I don’t know how well you know Tony,” he began. “But when Tony starts to get too comfortable with people, he does this thing where he tries to push you away."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a commission for anon who wanted Tony trying to push Steve away, thinking that Steve will eventually abandon him. Steve proves him wrong.

Steve was frustrated. He was trying really, really hard not to be, but, as he walked back into the kitchen to start cleaning up the mess, he had to admit to himself that he was. That feeling only increased as he looked down at the shards of broken glass and orange juice covering the floor. The fact that that was the last of the orange juice, and as such he wouldn’t be having any with his breakfast, wasn’t helping.

“Daddy!” Tony called out.

“No, Tony. You’ve got five minutes,” Steve said as sternly as he could – and up until now, he’d thought that was pretty stern. But Tony’s new attitude was throwing him for a loop, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it.

“Daddy!” Tony wailed.

Steve steeled himself as the waterworks started. After four months, he was pretty familiar with the difference between Tony crying for real and Tony crying because he wanted something and wasn’t getting it. In this case, Tony wanted out of the playpen and, since he couldn’t climb out himself, was bawling as though his heart was breaking. It was hard to hear, but Steve had promised five minute and five minutes Tony was going to get.

He occupied himself by picking up the largest shards of glass and tossing them into the garbage. One of Tony’s robot vacuum cleaners descended upon the remaining glass and juice while Steve’s back was turned, sucking up the mess like it couldn’t get enough. Steve waited patiently until the ‘bot deemed the job finished, then quickly grabbed the mop, wet it, and ran it over the floor a few times. Orange juice, he’d learned, could be _very_ sticky if it was allowed to dry on the floor.

“It’s been five minutes, Captain Rogers,” JARIVS announced.

“Thanks JARVIS,” Steve said, rinsing the mop and setting it aside to dry. He washed his hands, thinking about the conversation they’d just had. He’d laid it out very clearly that breaking things on purpose was not okay, and that if Tony wanted something, he was to use his big boy words and ask for it. But he doubted it would have an effect. He’d lost count of how many times he’d talked things through with Tony over the past few weeks, and he was running out of ways to tell Tony to behave himself. 

It just didn’t make sense. Tony was usually such a _good_ baby. He craved love and attention, and as long as he got both in spades, he was rarely naughty. But you’d never know that from how Tony had been acting recently. He’d been throwing temper tantrums, refusing to go down for a nap or to bed at night, ran away at bath time, didn’t want to eat or drink his bottles… and that was just the tip of the iceberg. The situation had turned into a nightmare that Steve wasn’t sure how to fix.

Tony insisted that nothing was wrong in both his big and his little headspace. He’d even gone so far as to tell Steve that he was imagining things, even Steve knew perfectly well that he was _not_ imagining the fact that Tony had deliberately pushed that glass of orange juice off the table. Tony had never done something like that before. He’d even looked Steve right in the eyes as he did it, like a challenge.

There had to be something going on. Since Tony didn’t want to tell him, Steve had tried to figure it out on his own. But everything seemed to be okay. Stark Industries was doing well; they’d just released a new tablet and it had shot to the top of the charts within minutes. The Avengers hadn’t had any call-outs for the past two weeks, but Tony had attended the last one and everyone had come out unscathed. And it didn’t appear as though anything was wrong between Tony and another teammate, or even between Tony and Pepper or Tony and Rhodey.

So it had to be Steve. Something he’d said or done had upset Tony to the point where he was acting out. He just didn’t know what it was. Secretly, Steve was beginning to wonder if Tony just didn’t want to do this anymore. And maybe this was Tony’s way of telling him, without actually _telling him_ , that he wanted to end things between him and Steve. The thought shook Steve to his core.

He _lived_ for this. Tony was his first Little since Steve had woken up from the ice – not that he’d really had a Little before, considering how small, weak and poor he’d been, so technically Tony could be classified as his first Little _ever_. Steve was terrified of losing him. He wanted to fix whatever had gone wrong, but how could he do that if Tony refused to tell him? It was maddening and Steve was starting to lose patience. 

He moved to the doorway and checked on Tony, only to see that Tony was laying down right in the middle of the playpen. Maybe he was tired? JARVIS monitored Tony’s sleep and usually woke Steve if Tony had a nightmare, but Steve knew there were also nights where Tony had a hard time settling down. It didn’t seem likely the events of the past few weeks could all be attributed to several nights of poor sleep. Still, he filed it away as a potential avenue to follow up on.

“You can come out of time out now,” Steve said, walking into the living room. He was fully expecting Tony to jump up and race over to the edge of the playpen, hands waving around frantically to be picked up – that was what he usually did.

Instead, Tony scowled. “No!”

“No?” Steve repeated, stunned. “You… don’t want to come out?”

“No!” Tony said, sitting up. He crossed his arms over his chest and pushed his lower lip out in a full-blown sulk.

Steve blinked at him, officially baffled. “Um… okay. You don’t have to come out…” He went to sit on the couch.

“Daddy!” Tony was on his feet immediately, arms out.

“So you do want out?” Steve reversed his course, heading for Tony instead.

“No!” Tony pulled his arms back.

“Tony, what do you _want_?!” Steve said, now annoyed. He shook his head and unlatched the gate of the playpen, letting it swing open. “There. If you want to come out, you can come out. If you don’t want to come out, then don’t. I’m going to sit and watch some television.”

He went back over to the couch and sat, ignoring Tony for the time being. Every once in a while, Tony went through a stage where he hated being a Little. Usually it involved Tony not wanting to be touched while simultaneously begging for hugs. Steve had been through that before. Maybe this was something similar? He pretended to focus all of his attention on the television, curious to see what Tony would do.

Tony stayed in the playpen for about five more minutes, then slowly toddled out. He was unsteady on his feet today, which meant that he was feeling littler than usual. Steve ached to rush over and scoop him up into a hug, but he forced himself to sit still. He had to figure out what was going on. He didn’t know how much longer he could take Tony acting like this.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Tony went into the kitchen. Steve was just getting up from the couch when he heard another crash. Startled, he rushed into the kitchen just in time to see Tony look over at him and push another plate onto the floor. The plate shattered, just like the first one, sending ceramic shards in everything direction. Steve’s mouth fell open as Tony did the same thing with two more plates.

“Tony!” Steve exclaimed.

“No!” Tony shouted, which seemed to be his new favorite word, and reached for plate number five.

Steve practically levitated across the kitchen, heedless of the shards he was stepping on, and grabbed Tony around the waist. He was wearing slippers with a thick sole, but Tony was bare foot and Steve was having a terrible vision of Tony stepping on something sharp, slicing his foot open and having a breakdown. That was the last thing he needed to deal with right now. He carried the squirming, whining baby back out to the living room.

“That was very bad, Tony,” he said sharply, setting Tony down. He kept a hand on Tony’s shoulder, so that Tony couldn’t pull away. “You know better than to break things! You could have hurt yourself.”

Tony screwed up his face, glaring at Steve. “My house, I break,” he snapped.

That stung, because before Tony had always made sure all the Avengers knew that it was _their_ home, but Steve didn’t let it show. “No. If you’re upset about things, you don’t break stuff.”

He could tell that the words weren’t getting through, and finally Steve turned to what had always worked for his mother. He turned Tony to the side and gently, but firmly, gave Tony three swats on the bottom. Tony tensed, eyes opening up wide with shock: Steve was very good at controlling his strength, and he knew he hadn’t really hit Tony hard enough to hurt, but he was hoping that the surprise of being spanked might win out and make it so that Tony actually heard what Steve was saying this time.

Then he picked Tony up and deposited him back in the playpen, and said, “You’re staying there for fifteen minutes this time and I don’t wanna hear a peep out of you, understood?”

He turned and walked into the kitchen, sighing when he saw the state of it. Round two, he thought ruefully, and set himself to work picking up the biggest chunks of ceramic. This time, probably because of the bigger mess, two vacuums showed up and began diligently cleaning the floor. Steve crossed his arms and watched them because he wasn’t sure what else to do; he didn’t want to go back out to Tony yet.

When the fifteen minutes were up, Steve did return to the living room. Tony was sitting in the middle of the playpen, watching him with a neutral expression. Steve went over and unlatched the playpen door. He and Tony had discussed spanking as a disciplinary method when Tony wasn’t in his headspace, and Tony had given his approval. But this was the first time Steve had ever done it.

“Do you want a bottle and a nap?” Steve asked, holding his arms out. “Or would you prefer to go work in the workshop for a while?” He knew what he’d prefer – he _really_ wanted to cuddle his baby for a while – but he wanted to give Tony the option.

Some unidentifiable emotion passed over Tony’s face. He was quiet for a moment, eyebrows furrowed and nose wrinkled like he was thinking hard, and then he shook his head. “I think I’ll go to the workshop.”

Steve’s heart sank, but he managed to keep a smile on his face. “Okay.”

Tony stood and moved towards the door. They looked at each other for a moment. Normally Steve would give him a hug and a kiss on the top of his head, check Tony’s diaper just to make sure it was clean and dry and then tell him not to stay in the workshop for too long. But right now, Steve didn’t know if he was supposed to do that. There was a distance between him and Tony that had never been there before, and he had no idea what he’d done to cause it.

“Well,” Tony said. He seemed like he was going to say something else, then shook his head. He walked past Steve and to the door, opened it, and was gone.

Steve, staring after him, could have cried.


	2. Chapter 2

The phone ringing woke Steve from a sound sleep. He bolted upright, thinking at first that it was the Avengers alarm, and then realized it was just his phone. He grabbed it from his nightstand and squinted at the screen, eyebrows raising when he saw that the caller was none other than Colonel James Rhodes. While he and Rhodes were friendly enough – they had to be – they didn’t talk much. 

Curious, Steve answered. “Hello?”

“Hi Steve. We need to talk about Tony,” Rhodes said crisply.

Instantly awake, Steve could feel a renewed burst of cold settling into his bones. He tried to steel himself for what was coming and said, “Sure. What about?”

“Please don’t play dumb with me. I just spent three hours coaxing the truth out of Tony, and I really don’t have the patience to do it with you too,” Rhodes said, sighing. “Just tell me. Has Tony been acting weird lately?”

“Yes,” Steve said, deciding that there was no point in trying to keep the truth of the matter to himself. Everyone had noticed. Natasha had actually pulled him aside last week to ask if Steve had done something to upset Tony. If Rhodes had some wisdom to offer, Steve was more than willing to take it.

“What’s he doing?” Rhodes asked.

“Ugh, just – everything. He refuses to eat, doesn’t want to sleep, screams at me when I change his diapers, won’t give me a hug, breaks stuff every chance he gets, throws temper tantrums… he threw his toys across the room two days ago and almost hit Clint in the face. And then last night, he deliberately knocked a glass of orange juice off the table and five plates off the counter.” Steve winced as he spoke, because listing it out like that sure didn’t make him sound like father of the year either.

Rhodes was quiet for a moment. “So, I don’t know how well you know Tony,” he began. “But when Tony starts to get too comfortable with people, he does this thing where he tries to push you away. He did it to Pepper, he did it to me, he did it to Happy, and now I think he’s doing it to you.”

Steve blinked at the wall. “… What?”

“Tony’s been betrayed by a lot of people in his life,” Rhodes said bluntly. “There’s been way too many assholes who got close to Tony because of what he had to offer, not because they really wanted to know him. So now Tony has a… a _thing_ about letting people get too close. First he tries to throw things at them. Fame, money, new gadgets, opportunities – whatever he thinks you might really want.”

“Oh shit,” Steve breathed, eyes widening. Suddenly, Tony’s flurry of inventions from a month ago made a hell of a lot more sense. He’d gone a little crazy, spending literally days in the workshop producing new weapons for the team, a new kind of armor for Steve, Natasha and Clint to wear in the field, even a new kind of armor that could be worn under water. Steve had accepted the new stuff with grace and appreciation, as he always did, but also confusion, and he remembered that Tony had seemed frustrated at the time. Only now did he understand why.

“Yup. When we were in university, he deposited over $100,000 into my bank account one night,” Rhodes said with grim humor.

“I’m guessing you didn’t keep it,” Steve said, running his hand through his hair.

“Actually, I did keep it,” Rhodes said. “Tony’s funny like that. Giving it back is almost as bad as not accepting it. But I also sat him down and had a serious talk about why that shit isn’t necessary, and then took him out and bought him three dozen donuts as a thank you.”

“Three dozen donuts?” Steve repeated, horrified.

Rhodes laughed. “Relax, Daddy. Tony was fine. Anyway, the point is, after that didn’t work Tony started being a little shit. He was forgetting about times we were supposed to hang out, ignoring my calls, deliberately avoiding me… it took me about two months to figure it out and corner him. He finally admitted that he didn’t know what I wanted from him, and that scared him, so he was cutting me… or maybe even himself… off.”

“A lot of things are making sense now,” Steve murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose. Of course. Of _course_. Why hadn’t Steve realized this earlier?

“I bet they do. And the thing about Tony is that he’ll push and push and _push_ until people break and leave, and then he considers that proof that he was right all along. The problem is that most people don’t even realize they were being tested. They think that Tony is the one who doesn’t want them around. Tony just doesn’t see that.”

“Kind of counter-intuitive, don’t you think?” said Steve.

“You’re preaching to the choir,” Rhodes said with a snort. “So you’ve got two options now. You can quietly bow out of your relationship with Tony, and go back to just being teammates. But I warn you, you’ll never get another chance with Tony if you do. And if that’s what you want, that’s fine. I get it. I just ask that you cut things off now, before Tony gets worse.”

Steve almost hated to think about what ‘worse’ could constitute at this point. “Or?”

“Or you sit that little shit down and get it through his thick, dumb head that you’re not going anywhere… so long as that’s actually true. I like you, Cap. I’d hate to have to kill you because you broke my best friend’s heart.”

That startled a laugh out of Steve. He sank back against the pillows, shaking his head. “Thank you,” he breathed finally. “I mean it. I was at my wit’s end with Tony. I really didn’t know what was going on.”

“It took a hell of a lot of guesswork on my part to figure it out, and Tony’s a lot sneakier now,” Rhodes admitted. “He’ll probably be pissed that I gave you a heads up. But you two seem to have a good thing going. Tony’s happier than I’ve seen him for a long time. You’re good for him.”

“He’s good for me,” Steve said, meaning it. “I hate to end this call prematurely, but it seems I have to go have a talk with my baby. I appreciate the heads up.”

“No problem,” Rhodes said. It sounded like he was smiling as he hung up, which made Steve smile too. But only for a moment. All too quickly, a frown crossed his face and he got out of bed. He quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt and left his floor, requesting that JARVIS take him to wherever Tony was.

Naturally, that turned out to be the workshop. Tony didn’t even notice Steve come in at first, too preoccupied with whatever he was working on. Steve paused for a moment in the doorway, just looking at him. He loved watching Tony work, loved the way that Tony got so invested in every little thing he did, loved how Tony stuck his tongue out when he was concentrating just like he did when he was in his headspace.

He wanted to keep this, and he was too close to losing it. That knowledge was what made Steve clear his throat. “Tony?”

Tony startled, head jerking up. “JARVIS, you were supposed to warn me!” he whined at the ceiling.

“Sir, Captain Rogers is on his way,” JARVIS said, deadpan, and Tony scowled.

“Yeah, thanks.” He sat back, reaching for a rag to wipe his fingers. Steve only caught a glimpse of Tony’s hands, but he was pretty sure they were shaking. It only occurred to Steve then that Tony probably thought Steve was here to end things.

“Can we talk?” Steve asked, and watched Tony visibly swallow.

“Sure. Lay it on me, Cap.”

Steve nodded, and said, “I’ve been thinking. I’d like to make things between us official. How would you feel about registering?”

It seemed to take a moment for Steve’s words to sink in, and it wasn’t very often that Steve got to see Tony Stark completely dumbfounded but he was seeing it now. Tony stared at him with a dropped jaw, speechless. Steve gave him a grim smile, torn between being pleased that he’d managed to shock Tony and very sad that this _was_ such a shock when it shouldn’t have been.

“W-what?” Tony stammered finally.

“I like this. I like you. I like how things have been going. I want it to continue,” Steve said simply. His therapist had been working with him on communicating his wants and needs without making it about other people. He was pretty sure she would be proud.

“You… Steve.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he had a headache. “What are you doing?”

“I’m telling you that I love you, Tony. As both my friend, and as my baby, I love you. I talked to Rhodes. I know what you’ve been trying to do, and it’s not going to work. I don’t want anything from you except what you want to give. And if you… if you don’t want this, that’s okay. But don’t push me away because you’re scared.”

The word ‘scared’ jolted Tony out of his staring, and he scowled again. “Rhodey has such a big mouth.”

“In this case, I’m glad that he does.” Steve dared to move closer and sit down across from Tony. The stool was uncomfortable and not really meant for someone of Steve’s height and weight, but he didn’t care. He reached out and took Tony’s free hand, holding it loosely.

Tony looked down at their hands and didn’t say anything for a moment. His eyebrows were furrowed like he was thinking hard. Finally, he said softly, “I saw you at the park that day.”

“What day?” Steve asked, confused.

“That day that Clint and Bruce wanted to go, but I had meetings. When I was coming home, my driver passed the park and I saw you. You were standing in the middle of the play area. There were a bunch of Littles climbing all over you. You looked so _happy_ , and they were all happy too. At first I wanted to join you, but then I…” Tony bowed his head. “I thought… I don’t know how to make you smile like that. You deserve better than me, Steve.”

It was Steve’s turn to stare. Flabbergasted, he said, “Are you kidding me? I deserve _better_? Better than the man who gave me, and the rest of our team, a home? Better than the man who dragged me kicking and screaming into the modern century? Better than the man who literally handed me a credit card and told me that he’d be offended if he found out I paid for anything else? Better than the man who lets me see him at his most vulnerable, and willingly allows me to take care of him?”

Tony flushed. Even the tips of his ears turned pink. “That’s me being selfish,” he objected.

“It’s really, really not. It’s not selfish to have wants and needs, Tony. It makes you human. And I’m human too, as it turns out. This idea of me deserving more – I don’t _deserve_ anything. But I do want you, and only you, if you still want me,” Steve said, looking him in the eyes.

“You don’t want my fame, fortune or brain?” Tony asked, a small smile playing around his lips.

Steve snorted. “I have my own fame, honey. Your brain is amazing, and your money is great, but I would rather have you and live the way I did growing up than have all of that but not you.”

Tony’s smile widened briefly, then faded. Suddenly, he looked upset. “But I’ve been such a brat.”

“You’ve got the headspace of a baby that’s about fifteen months old,” Steve said as gently as possible. “That comes with the territory.” When he and Tony had started this, Steve had done a lot of research. He knew that Littles in such a young headspace could have a lot of trouble accurately expressing emotions. Steve had been very lucky so far: Tony was an easy Little to care for. He couldn’t bring himself to be angry that Tony had been going through this and lashing out in the only way he could. They should’ve had this conversation weeks ago.

“I’m not a baby,” Tony said, but his eyes were filling up with tears. “I’m not!” It was the same thing he always said whenever Bruce and Clint got to do something that Tony wasn’t allowed to do, but there was something plaintive about it. Something _lost_ , and it hit Steve right in the gut.

“Oh, Tony. Come here,” Steve said, opening his arms. Tony hesitated for a few seconds before he broke, standing up and leaning into Steve with a sob. Steve pulled Tony into his lap and hugged him tightly, rocking him back and forth as Tony began to cry.

They’d need to talk some more, Steve knew. He didn’t know if Tony wanted to make this official, though he suspected the answer was yes, and they needed to make sure they were on the same page from here on out. But right now, he didn’t think Tony was capable of that. He stood up, scooping Tony into his arms, and felt his heart melt at the way that Tony immediately curled into him and wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck.

He kissed the top of Tony’s head and whispered, “Shh, baby boy, I got you. I got you, and I’m never letting go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
